Scenes From The Tree
by Luz Nocturnal
Summary: Amidst the morning sun, Usopp, the dreamer, ponders Luffy, the doer.


**Title:** _Scenes From The Tree_  
**Copyright:** One Piece and its characters © Eiichiro Oda. Lyrics © Yoko Kanno & Tim Jensen. The only copyright I stake is intellectual. Thank you, drive through.  
**Notes:** For a nanosecond, I was tempted to title this _Crack The Liar's Smile_ after a DrainS.T.H. song, but the urge went away.   
I'm a bit green in OP fandom, but I haven't seen much Uso/Luf (or vice versa); glad to contribute to the chaos. :) This is probably also the first Uso/Luf fic to feature a _Rocky & Bullwinkle_ homage.

* * *

_I sit here on my shelf,  
Talking to myself,  
Words that we couldn't say.  
--Steve Conte, Words That We Couldn't Say _

_Figit. Dangle. Swing._ Finding a need for motion, Usopp swung his leg gently over the thick tree limb which he currently claimed as his perch; the slight jarring of his heel colliding with the thick trunk seemed to appease him. Usopp busied himself with the small, half-formed thing taking shape in his hands. He wasn't yet sure what it was, but it had been nattering in the back of his mind since the night before.   
It had even woken him early; much earlier than he would have preferred. The morning sun was thankfully filtered by the countless leaves above him, although enough light came through to dance patterns on his arms and the pants he wore. Holding the object up for inspection, he began to fancy it some kind of slingshot. Perhaps. He still wasn't sure.

Pausing from creation to tuck a stray strand of unruly chocolate hair behind one ear, he fumbled his would-be device, and half of it fell to the ground beneath him. Usopp watched its descent, the little leather strap waving in the wind on its way, as if in goodbye or gloating its escape. "Damn," he said softly, preparing to lodge what was left of the perhaps-slingshot in the nearest cranny and crawl down the tree after its wayward components, when a hand shot up next to him, accompanied by a voice.

"Missing something?" asked the owner of the appendage, holding the leather strap.

Briefly stunned, Usopp reached out to seize Luffy's hand before it retracted. By the time he had his fingers wrapped around the strip of cowhide, gravity had pushed its own agenda, and nearly yanked Usopp from the tree. Luffy had to learn to _let go_ of things.

With a repressed sigh of relief, Usopp rose from his branch-kissing position. "Thank you," he said, opting to let Luffy's good intentions outweigh the near-accident.

Luffy had a lot of good intentions. Amazingly, there seemed to be no ill will within the aspiring pirate, hardly a shadow in his soul, if indeed there were any at all. Luffy hardly seemed the archetype pirate.   
So, Usopp had long ago reasoned, either the boy was lying, incredibly stupid, or telling the truth.

Truth was a bit of a novelty to Usopp, leader of a crew a thousand strong, feared rogue of the seas, doer of grand deeds.   
Somewhere, deep in a tiny corner of his heart, he might also admit that the truth was something he feared. Just a little. Really. But he'd only admit that under great duress, and only if he was sure no one would ever hear it.

He had told so many stories over the course of his life, lived so many grand adventures. It was a very intricate web that he had spent many years building, and even he sometimes tripped his own silken threads. He'd be hard-pressed to admit that, too. After all, it wasn't his fault that he'd had so many adventures that he'd forgotten a few.

But Luffy? Luffy didn't tell tales, didn't need to. He _lived_ them.

Oh, how Usopp envied that.

Not that he would admit that, either. Not even under duress. Really.

Usopp peered down at the helpful pirate beneath him. Luffy had parked himself at the base of the tree, finding it an ideal napping spot. Whether he knew of Usopp's presence before he settled, Usopp wasn't going to speculate. Trying to second guess Luffy often gave others headaches.

"So, whatcha working on?" rang the cheerful voice from below.

"...Hopefully, a very advanced slingshot," replied the slightly distracted voice from above. The slingshot part was still unofficial, but he had to tell the curious _something_.

Satisfied, Luffy lulled into silence, and, Usopp assumed, sleep. In an attempt to resubmerge himself into his invention, he leaned back against the tree, nearly finding the same spot as before; the bits of bark digging into his back weren't numbing quite the same places, but it would do.

_Tap, tap, tap._

_Swing, light thud. Swing, light thud._

Usopp sighed, looking at his progress, which was, in exact and precise terms, zilch.

Usopp carefully peeked over the thick branch until Luffy's head came into view. Seeing that Luffy wasn't watching him, Usopp moved further over to observe.

Seemingly oblivious to the world, Luffy looked entirely too comfortable, dozing as he was. Hat pushed down over his face, hands intertwined at his belly, legs lazily placed in the edges of the grass that dared to intrude on the tree's large roots.   
Well, wasn't _that_ entirely unprofessional. Imagine, if a bandit gang were to jump from the bushes - their fearless leader would be caught with his pants down! Theoretically speaking. He didn't even have a _weapon_, not a sword, or a gun, or even a highly advanced slingshot! After a moment's consideration, Usopp had to acknowledge that a rubbery body had to count as a weapon of some sort.

It just wasn't conventional.

Well, Usopp could appreciate the unconventional. And Luffy was nothing if not that.

Slowly turning the would-be weapon in the filtering light, he watched the sun warm the reddish brown of the wooden handle and twinkle dully off the unpolished metal accoutrements. Highly advanced, his ass. Still, maybe he could put a scope on it, or something...   
The burning, incessant muse of inspiration had abandoned him. Perhaps even she realized what an absurd thing it was shaping up to be. Usopp sighed.

Leaning over and propping his chin on the heel of his hand, Usopp turned back to his unofficial study of the nodding rogue.

With a soft snort, Luffy slid to the side and fell to the grass. Still asleep, he tucked an arm behind his head, dislodging his hat in the process. The messy, short cropped hair caught Usopp's attention. He rarely saw it, and suspected that the same was true for society in general. Luffy never took that ratty straw thing off.

Shifting slightly in his bed of grass and earth, Luffy's leg kicked out, a reflexive action. Apparently he was dreaming. He was smiling. Even in his dreams he smiled.

Usopp watched quietly, a smile slowly finding its way to his own full lips.

There was such innocence painted on his face. Even through the scar, even through the memories of the times Usopp had seen that face tainted with rage, the innocence couldn't be missed.

Strangely admirable, Usopp thought. Sometimes it seemed that there was very little innocence left in the world at all. What an unconventional pirate king he would make.

Usopp could appreciate that.

The morning light danced patterns on Luffy's skin, while he continued to dream, and Usopp continued to watch.

_End._


End file.
